Category: 1963-64 Parkhurst

Wow, has it really been eight months since I last purchased a card from the 1963-64 Parkhurst Hockey set? Yes, yes it has. I did not find any Parkies from that year back at the card show in March, and I haven’t done much eBay shopping lately.

Anyway, this “common card” of Dale Balon was $12. A little steep for a common, until I noticed how perfect the corners on this card are. The only real flaw is that bit of discoloration (dirt?) along the bottom left edge. Even the borders and back are a little less aged than usual.

Among the 58 cards I ordered from Check Out My Cards, one of them was vintage–this 1963-64 Parkhurst card of Parker MacDonald. It cost $7.25 and is in very good shape. Just a bit of corner wear, and a pencil mark on the back that I was able to gently erase. (SHHHH! Don’t tell PSA, or they won’t grade it.) Now, I only need 31 cards to complete this set.

At this point, it seems like I have pretty much acquired almost every “cheap” card from the 1963-64 Parkhurst Hockey set. Now, all that remains are the pricier cards that “book” for between $50 and $75. So, when I found this card of Andre Pronovost for $6–and it was a card that I still needed–I did not hesitate in buying it. (along with a fairly-priced Cesar Maniagio RC). And just like that, I am now over 2/3 of the way towards competing this set.

Card #99 in the 1963-64 Parkhurst Hockey set is special for a few reasons. It is the only horizontal card in an otherwise vertical set. It is action-oriented and the only one in the set to feature a goal net.

It is also the last card in the set. Usually, the first and last cards in vintage sets carry a premium because they were susceptible to rubber band marks or wear from being the “end cards” when stored. It is a rookie card and a card of a goalie–two other reasons that make it desirable. After Gordie Howe, this Cesar Maniago card is the second-most expensive card in the set.

I had only seen this card once before, about 3 years back, and it was priced at “full book value” of $175. I passed on buying it, partially because I could not afford it (always a good reason), and partially because I have this foolish notion that if I wait long enough and keep my eyes open, I can find any card I want at a price I want to pay. Within reason, of course. But I always wondered if I made a mistake by not buying it; by not trying to work out something with the card dealer.

I did not make a mistake.

This past weekend, I found this beautiful card at a show near Chicago. A dealer who specializes in vintage hockey cards had it in a box of “lesser grade” cards. It was tagged at half of “high book” value because of some corner wear, but it looked pretty darn good to me. I bought another old Parkie, too, and he knocked off an additional 10%. All said and done, I got this card for $80–which sounds steep until you consider that $80 is far less than $175.

No creases. No stains. Just a little corner wear that I can live with. My patience has paid off, and this puts me one large step closer to finishing the set I started 4 years ago. I am 2/3 of the way there.

Longtime readers of this blog — and of my quest to complete a 1963-64 Parkhurst Hockey set — might have thought I already had this card. And they’d be right. The very first ’63-64 Parkie I bought, way back in 2008, was a Gordie Howe card in poor condition.

I told myself that I would upgrade the Howe after I got all of the other cards. But then I recently came across this card you see here. It has a few minor flaws — the most noticeable being the small bends on the lower corners. The card actually looks better in person — scanning something at two times its actual size makes everything look worse.

That “wrinkle” along the top is more noticeable in the scan than in real life. And honestly, I did not notice that tiny crease by the Stanley Cup until I scanned this.

Small flaws aside, this is nicer than many of the other cards in my set build.

So, this card really does not move me “one step closer” to finishing this set, but I still feel that it is an accomplishment because it is an upgrade of the most expensive single.

I’ve been stretching out my 1963-64 Parkhurst acquisitions long enough. Time to get to something else.It also seems a bit pointless since this guy posted the entire set. So without further ado, here are cards 57, 58 and 59 in my Parkhurst set build.

#64 – Dick Duff – This one is in awesome shape for its age.

Even the back looks great.

#67 – Kent Douglas – Probably one of the few “commons’ I still needed.

The back has a “mark” above the card number, but I think I paid only $9 for it.

#88 – Bernard (Boom Boom) Geoffrion. Last week, I posted the other Geoffrion card from the set. This card is in awesome condition – nice corners, great centering, no creases.

Hall of Fame center Leonard “Red” Kelly is my 55th card in the 1963-64 Parkhurst hockey set. I still got a few more of these to show off over the next few days. Plus, there is a show in Chicago coming up at the end of the month–hopefully I will be able to nab a couple of these and keep my set build going.

The back of this card is just as nice as the front–just a bit off-center and the usual discoloring.

Anyone who has followed this blog for a while knows that Lorne “Gump” Worsley is my favorite player from the Original Six era. I was not alive during that era, and Gump retired before I was even born. But I’ve read his autobiography so many times (I actually own TWO copies of that book) that I feel like I would have been a big fan of his if I was alive and following hockey back then.

That said, I was extremely thrilled to finally get my hands on this 1963-64 Parkhurst card of Worsley. It’s got a bit of dirt on the front–nothing that would offend a rough-and-tumble goalie like the Gumper (may he rest in peace).